The Band's Visit (***1/4)

This low-key charmer follows an Egyptian police force band that winds up in a tiny Israeli town after taking the wrong bus. The ask the vivacious woman who runs the store where the Arab Culture Center is and are told there is no culture center and no culture, in fact. There is also no bus until the next day, and no hotel. What could be an overly cute comedy succeeds by keeping it simple and quiet. (There’s no score.) For one day, we follow the troupe, primarily the stiff, timid band leader and a younger colleague whose pickup technique is to imitate the Chet Baker-sung version of “My Funny Valentine.” The band’s unwelcome detour is for the store owner a respite from boredom. The band and the locals communicate in their common language, English. Politics and religion are barely alluded to in this unexpected diversion about an unexpected diversion.

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viewed 4/3/08; reviewed 4/6/08